Missing Food – The grain postharvest losses
of Smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa
Dr John Orchard &
Prof Rick Hodges
What we will cover

Why have grain postharvest losses (PHLs)
become so important?

What can be done about postharvest losses?

The contribution of the African Postharvest
Losses Information System (APHLIS).
The People Daily – Kenya 18/01/2012
What has triggered the interest?
Long run movements of food commodity prices
index
tonne
index/metric
priceprice
Real Real
1970s food crisis
2006/07 food crisis
IMF Commodity price indexes deflated by the U.S. CPI
Food riots - 2006
In developing countries, for every 1% increase in food
prices, food purchases decrease by 0.75% (FAO 2006)
The solution – to increase food availability ?
Three options to increase food
availability
1st - Increase production
2nd - Widen distribution
3rd - Reduce losses and waste
after harvest
The benefits of reducing PHLs?
PHLs are not just a waste of valuable food but also
a waste of the resources used in to food production –
 Agricultural inputs (fertiliser, pesticide, oil)
 Water
 Land
 Labour
So loss reduction can be a more resource efficient
response to food shortage than increased production.
What’s moving the scene
Feb 2011
April 2011
What can be done about PHLs*
1.
Provide incentives for improved quality.
2.
Encourage group marketing.
3.
Strengthen grain market institutions.
4.
Enable access to improved approaches
and technologies.
5.
Support the postharvest technical
community in LDCs (e.g. through
APHLIS).
*See World Bank report ‘Missing Food’ - http://siteresources.worldbank.org/
INTARD/Resources/MissingFoods10_web.pdf
What is APHLIS?
African Postharvest Losses Information System
APHLIS is an initiative of the EC’s Joint Research
Centre that providesweight loss estimates by cereal, by country
and by province in Sub-Saharan Africa
JRC
NRI
BLE - ISICAD
What is APHLIS?
 Calculates cumulative cereal losses.
 Is based on a network of local experts.
 Method and data are displayed, so it is fully
transparent.
 Has a downloadable calculator for user
estimation at any geographical scale.
http://www.aphlis.net
APHLIS outputs are presented in tables and interactive maps
Maize %
weight
losses by
province
Uses for APHLIS loss estimates
APHLIS outputs can be used to:
 Influence policy makers.
 Identify opportunities to improve the
efficiency of value chains.
 Identify opportunities to improve food
security.
 M&E project performance
In the future APHLIS will offer
1. A standardised approach to the collection of
loss data – with development of a loss
assessment manual.
2. A system for local experts to generate a
narrative on loss estimates for their country
In the future APHLIS will offer
3. Provide an understanding of the significance of
quality losses, and
4. Provide the approaches to be taken by
smallholders, for each step in the post-harvest
value chain, to reduce both losses of quantity
and quality of their cereal grains.
THANK YOU